


Home is Where Your Lemur Is

by TheDoodyPoo



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-26
Updated: 2013-09-26
Packaged: 2017-12-27 15:43:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/980707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoodyPoo/pseuds/TheDoodyPoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ruby's had a rough day but she's about to get a pleasant surprise.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Home is Where Your Lemur Is

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this as a bday gift for a friend of mine. There's a Prequel that was a graduation gift to this same friend. That one is called "My, what awesome boots you have. (The better to stomp all over your heart with.)" That one should be posted soon, but since this one has a kiss I felt it would please the wonderful Once fandom more. I hope this does Ruby and Emma and their angsty love justice. Enjoy.

It was late in Storybrooke. What few people were on the street were heading home. It was a clear, warm night and Ruby was finishing cleaning up the diner before turning in for the night. It had been a long day and she was really looking forward to the end of it. She was wiping down the counter, the final chore of her closing checklist. She had saved this task for last because it was her favorite. I mean, trying to control your killer wolf self is tough work. Running a towel over a surface in a circular motion for a little while just seemed like a pleasant change of pace. She knew she would have to save this for last after the day she had today, and it was a good idea because she could feel a bit of her stress melting away as the counter got cleaner and more sparkly. (Plus she had a thing about how awesome cleaning supplies smelled and this was the only way she could get a wiggle without looking like a weirdo.)

As Ruby was happily nearing the end of the counter, there was a knock at the door. She could make out a figure but couldn’t really tell who it was. She contemplated whether to open the door.

“Grr, c’mon. The lights aren’t even on,” she growled to herself, then shouted, “We’re closed!” She was going for stern, not mean, but wasn’t really sure if she hit her mark. She also didn’t really care.

“Yeah, the darkness was a clue!” a familiar voice shouted back. “It’s Emma! I just wanted to talk to you. For just a bit.”

Ruby gasped. “Oh! I’m sorry Emma I’ll be right there!”

She ran to the door, but as she was reaching for the doorknob she realized she had no idea what she looked like. There wasn’t really a mirror present (plus she wasn't really keen on mirrors anymore. You can't ever be sure who's watching. It’s just creepy.) so she fussed with her hair and looked down to assess her outfit. She looked good. (She’d worn the shorts. She hadn’t been sure about them earlier but now she knew there was a reason she busted them out this morning. I mean you can’t lose in those red shorts.) 

“Uh, I can see you standing there. You planning on opening this door or should I get comfortable?” Emma joked. (She was actually really nervous but you don’t become a badass by showing your hand.) 

Ruby opened the door. As the wind from the outside blew in the doorway, she could smell Emma’s scent and it was overwhelming. It was sweet like flowers, but also smelled a little like sunshine. It was definitely the honey of scents (and trust me, this wolf had smelled some scents in her day.) It stunned her for a second, but she caught herself before it got awkward. “Well my, my, my, isn’t this a pleasant surprise? It is pleasant right? I mean there’s nothing...wrong, is there?” 

“No! No, nothing like that. Everything is fine. There’s no evil.. uh.. afoot?” Emma chuckled nervously.

“Oh, ok. Well that’s a relief. So, what brings you by, Emma?” She was trying to maintain eye contact to appear strong but it was sort of backfiring. She realized that staring into Emma’s eyes was a little too easy. In fact, she imagined a world where all she did was stare into those wonderful eyes and smell that beautiful scent. 

This wonderful vision, however, was short lived.

“Well, I heard you were having a pretty rough day, and lord knows I’ve been there. I wanted to do something to cheer you up because, well, because I couldn’t stand to think of you sad.”

“Oh, wow.” The butterflies in Ruby’s stomach went double time. She couldn’t believe she’d just heard those words come out of Emma, the woman she had obsessed over for who knows how long now, her knight in shining armor (and stunning boots.) “Oh, wow” was all she could muster, however. Happiness was sort of shorting out her system. 

Emma made a save this time. “So, yeah. I got you this. Open it.”

She pulled out a small square box that was perfectly wrapped in red paper and a red bow.

“Mary Margaret helped wrap it. (Which of course meant Mary Margaret wrapped it herself, which explained the perfect of the wrap job.) But I totally picked the color. It’s red cuz, well, ya know.” Emma was on the verge of rambling and she knew it. The most efficient plan of action she could think was to hold out the present, smile and continue this till it was opened. Talking was not working tonight. 

Ruby took the gift. It was a surreal moment. She literally could not refrain from smiling ear to ear as she stared at the gift. Curiosity was sweeping over her mind, but she still took a couple seconds to marvel at this wonderful moment before she carefully undid the ribbon.

Gingerly, she pulled the tape off of the wrapping and unveiled a white box. (She thought about ripping the paper but when I tell you this box was perfectly wrapped, that is not an exaggeration.) She looked up at Emma who was also smiling ear to ear and beaming with anticipation. It was the cutest thing. 

She opened the box and pulled out a small stuffed animal. It took her a moment to figure out what it was. She thought monkey for a second but when she inspected the face, her jaw dropped in clear surprise. Ruby looked up at Emma in a small state of happy shock and Emma smiled back, victorious. She knew she had done good. 

“Is this...a lemur?” said Ruby.

“I’m glad you noticed. I was worried you’d just think it was a monkey.” Emma chuckled.

“Emma, I don’t know what to say. This is amazing.”

“Well, I just figured this way you can feel like you’re on an adventure and stay here in Storybrooke. You know, close.”

Emma was losing her grip. She could only be this sly and cool for so long. She had to wrap this up before Ruby noticed she was nervous. (She just couldn't gamble her rep like that. Not even for love. She is frakkin stubborn, y’all.)

“Well,” she said. “I better get going, but if you ever feel down just give that little guy a squeeze.”

Ruby hugged the lemur to her chest. “I will. Thank you so much Emma. You don’t know how much this means to me.” Her emotions welled up inside her and she threw her arms around Emma’s. Being that close to Emma made the scent overbearing, but she figured she could chance a hug. She could do nothing but get lost in the marvelous euphoria of it. 

Emma too was overcome with emotions. She had been debating herself the whole way there whether she should even give the gift. She was the kind who played it safe. Ok, so not always, but something like this could rock the town and she had already been through a lot. (I mean seriously, it’s like there was nothing else in frakkin town to write about except her and the family drama.) Another scandal wasn’t appealing, but neither was holding back these feelings. So she made a compromise with herself. She pulled back to look at Ruby. Their eyes locked.

“Well, sweet dreams,” Emma said, and then softly kissed Ruby’s lips. She lingered for just a moment. (That extra moment that basically says “no, this was not a friend or european thing.”) She breathed in the sweetness of the moment and the lip gloss and then turned and walked toward her bug.

Ruby stood frozen. She blinked at the gorgeous back of Emma getting closer to her car. Her body was still but her mind ran a mile a minute. As it sunk in that this moment had in fact happened and was not a vision or dream, she held the lemur to her chest as tightly as she could, took a deep breath, and then smiled at the moon. Sleep just didn’t seem like it would come anytime soon.

Emma closed the car door. She let out a long sigh and put her head on the steering wheel.

“How do I get myself into these things,” she moaned. She looked in the rear view mirror and smiled. “Looks like you still got it, Swan.”


End file.
